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[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis: Christians wanting to go backward ‘does so much harm to the church.’VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Wanting to go back to the way things were in the past is not Christian, Pope Francis said.There is a difference between wanting to go back in time and drawing inspiration from one’s roots in order to move forward with Christ, he said.Looking back to find inspiration is good because “without roots we cannot progress,” he said. “But to go in reverse is to go back in order to have a form of defense, a safety measure that saves us from...

[Catholic Caucus] Viganò on Liturgical Revolution and the Holy Week Reforms of Pius XII Dear Monsieur…,Thank you for sending Abbé…'s question to me regarding the reform of Holy Week.I agree with him that the reform can effectively be considered a sort of trial balloon with which the architects of the subsequent conciliar reform introduced an entire series of modifications – which in my opinion were entirely questionable and arbitrary – to the Ordo Majoris Hebdomadæ as it existed up until that time.I would say in fact that this modification may have appeared almost harmless, albeit bizarre, because the mens...

Important study: “On Doctrinal and Moral Disorders Abiding in the Church” — Fr. John Hardon’s 1990 critique of the “revised draft” of the Catechism (Part 1) Rorate has received from Drs. Maike and Robert Hickson the following important study, which introduces and then provides the critique written by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. (1914–2000) in 1990 when he was given the opportunity to review a “revised draft” of what would become the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The text offered here, in two parts, was first published in Christian Order in 2016 and is now being made available on the...

Vatican II in Light of Tradition? Traditional Catholics are often told that we ought not to reject the Second Vatican Council, but merely reject the “Spirit of Vatican II,” which is showcased by clown masses, communion in the hand, Fr. James Martin, SJ, etc. In other words, reject the implementation of the council, but don’t reject the council itself. People will quote bits and pieces from the council that can sound more conservative, and try giving the impression that Vatican II isn’t so bad after all. This is known as reading Vatican II in light of tradition, or using...

[Catholic Caucus] Ancient Regime Is Back: Church Of Mercy Forbids Requiem For French KingStrasbourg Archbishop Luc Ravel, 64, has forbidden the celebration of the annual Requiem Mass for King Louis XVI (1754-1793) in Strasbourg Cathedral invoking the mischievous Traditiones Custodes, Una Voce France reports.Therefore, this year's Requiem will be celebrated by Father Pierre-Marie Berthe of the Society of St Pius X in their chapel in Strasbourg on January 21.This Requiem for the King has been celebrated since 1993 (!) in the Cathedral.

Dilecta Mea — About the Holy Apostolic Mass Rumble — You who permit yourselves to prohibit the Holy Apostolic Mass, have you ever celebrated it? You who from the height of your liturgical cathedrae are piqued about the “old Mass,” have you ever meditated on its prayers, its rites, and its ancient and sacred gestures? I have asked myself this many times in the past few years: because I myself, even though I knew this Mass since I was very young; even though I had learned to serve it and respond to the celebrant when I was so little that...

A Young Irishman Smiles at Traditionis CustodesI popped into my parish church today. I haven’t been there in quite some time; nearly a decade in fact.The church has a specific meaning to me; it’s where my family are buried, it’s where I was baptized and received the sacraments. Above the door stands a stone commemorating my great, great, great grandfather who, in 1818 paid for its construction; the first church where we could worship after the two centuries-long persecution of the Reformation.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowFamily tradition says that he was awarded the honour of ringing the Angelus bell for...

What if the Pre-Vatican II Popes Were Actually Right? Whether we think of him as an anti-pope or merely one of the the worst popes in history, the fact remains that Francis has arrogated to himself a power that no pope can ever have: to reshape the Holy Catholic Church to fit the anti-Catholic objectives of the globalists. Even if we consider him to be far worse than his immediate predecessors, though, we have to look back to the pre-Vatican II popes if we want to find Successors of Peter who assiduously defended the Mystical Body of Christ. And...

Moscow Patriarchate Signs Death Certificate for Conciliar Ecumenism The number two of the Russian Orthodox Church reacted, on December 12, 2021, on the Rossiya-24 channel, to the remarks made, on December 6, by Pope Francis on the plane back from Greece to Rome.The Sovereign Pontiff then declared: “I am ready to go to Moscow… My meeting with Patriarch Kirill is on the horizon.”Without confirming or denying the prospect of a meeting at the highest level between the Successor of Peter and the head of the Russian Church - which would be the second in the current pontificate - Metropolitan...

Many years ago I had the privilege of delivering a lecture on the life and ministry of John Calvin in the unlikely context of the Interfaith Seminar of the Catholic Archdiocese of Trento in northern Italy. A lone Reformed voice speaking to a room filled with priests and monks at the historic epicenter of the Catholic Reformation, I may not have been the exact modern equivalent of Leonidas at Thermopylae but I enjoyed being heavily outnumbered nonetheless. At the end of my lecture, every single question I was asked related to the burning of Michael Servetus by the Genevan authorities...

[Catholic Caucus] Today’s day thought experiment: The Oregon TrailA friend sent this:I never played Oregon Trail, but I watched enough Westerns and studied enough history that I get the gist.Today’s day thought experiment:The wagon train is headed west. After crossing the Mississippi, things seem to go well through the plains – but then as things start to rise toward the Rockies, the going gets tougher. There are some Native attacks, the path gets more difficult. The wagon train is still largely together, but it’s showing signs of imminent trouble.The leadership calls a brief halt to discuss what’s going wrong and...

[Catholic Caucus] Louisiana bishop defends Latin Mass, says restricting it would be ‘grossly negligent’Bishop Glen Provost of Lake Charles issued his official response to the Pope’s July motu proprio against the Latin Mass.LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Glen Provost of the Diocese of Lake Charles said it would be “grossly negligent if not callous” to impose any “restrictive law” on the Latin Mass.Pope Francis’ July 16 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes implemented sweeping restrictions on the celebration of the traditional liturgy, or Latin Mass, and declared the novus ordo to be “the unique expression of the lex orandi of the...

'The Council and The Eclipse of God' by Don Pietro Leone - PART XVI - 'The Right to Propagate Error' In this installment, Don Pietro focuses further on the origins of the concept of ‘Religious Liberty’ which has wormed its way into the Church and minds and hearts of countless Catholics, contradicting centuries of Church teaching. We shall see in more detail how this notion of religious liberty reflects the concepts of the American Constitution and the French Revolution’s ‘Declaration on the Rights of Man’, emanating from the Freemasonic ideals and philosophy of the likes of Jean-Jacque Rousseau, an...

Artist and iconographer David Clayton stated the statue ‘bears no relation to any recognizable religious or sacred Christian theme.’ROME, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — Called the “new Pieta,” a “blasphemous” version of Michelangelo’s famous Pieta has been unveiled in a Roman basilica, depicting a muscular older man holding a younger man, both of whom are completely naked. The “new Pieta” was sculpted by Italian artist Jacopo “Jago” Cardillo during the COVID-related lockdowns, and is situated in the Chapel of the Crucifix, in the basilica of Santa Maria in Montesanto in the Piazza del Populo. Michelangelo’s Pieta shows the Blessed Virgin holding Christ...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Schneider tells Steve Bannon the Latin Mass is ‘stronger’ than Pope Francis: ‘It will win’The Pope's 'limitations are really short lived – they will collapse. Because the truth and the beauty of the prayer of the Church of all ages is [are] so powerful and so beautiful. This is the demonstration that the Church is in the hands of God.' Discussing Pope Francis’ new motu proprio Traditionis Custodes that aims at abrogating this Mass, the Kazakh bishop stated, “The traditional Mass is stronger than Pope Francis … it will win.” In an EWTN interview aired October 7,...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop's Blog / An important prayer for our timeThe attached image is called "Amazing Lights", it seems especially appropriate as we celebrate the 104th Anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady at Fatima in 1917. Interestingly these amazing lights are especially active as we celebrate this important date. In 1910 only a few years before the Miracles at Fatima, which also carried dire warnings for humanity, Pope St. Pius X issued the "Oath Against Modernism" printed here.“I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly...

Reimagining Redemption: From Vatican II to Francis and BeyondTwo councils, over four hundred years apart, set forth profoundly different interpretations of the role of Jesus Christ’s earthly mission. Can you identify the two councils based on the passages below?Council A“Whereby it came to pass that the heavenly Father, ‘the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,’ when that ‘blessed fullness of time’ was come sent to men Christ Jesus, His Son, who had been announced and promised, both before the Law and at the time of the Law to many holy Fathers, that He might both redeem the...

[Catholic Caucus] First cathedral built after Vatican II celebrates 50th anniversaryThe Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption was the first cathedral built with the Second Vatican Council in mind. The debates over design were compounded by innovations suggested by the Second Vatican Council. The council made many proposals for reform, but among them was a call to bring a “noble simplicity” to church design. Taking inspiration from the council, St. Mary’s architects heeded the call of Pope Paul VI.

Classical architecture is not a partisan issue. President Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Democratic Party, was an enthusiastic champion of the Greek Revivalism thankfully still visible in both the capital and his Monticello home. When he designed the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, he took great care in the landscaping and architecture, knowing their likely effects on generations of young minds. Fifty years later, President Abraham Lincoln insisted that construction of the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol continue despite the bloody and costly war taking place sometimes just 50 miles from the seat of government. Public beauty in civic buildings,...

Did the Holy Ghost Abandon the Church at Vatican II?In a 1976 interview published under the title of Vatican Encounter, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre made several striking statements about the role of the Holy Ghost during Vatican II:“I should have battled more vigorously, perhaps, for an improvement of the texts, or refused to sign them, as I subsequently did with others. In reality, I was hoping against hope that the Holy Spirit would prevent certain projects from coming to pass or that the Pope would intervene at the last moment.”“Only God knows what really went on during Vatican II, and what...